Skinning machines for skinning meat, poultry and fish products have long been in use. They typically include a toothed gripping roll, and an elongated skinning blade mounted in a shoe adjustable with respect to gripping roll. Typical skinning machines are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,559,707 and 4,730,368.
Existing skinning machines sometimes are wasteful in that too much meat material is left with the skin particularly when the operation commences. Starting the skinning operation, i.e., the initial engagement of the meat product with the skinning blade, is not always easy. Hold down rolls on the machines do not always apply sufficient pressure on the product to be skinned to enhance the skinning operation. High yield of the skinned product is not always achieved, and cleaning of the machine is often difficult.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a method and means of skinning meat products which will efficiently and effectively remove skin from meat, poultry and fish products.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a method and means of skinning meat products wherein air cylinders will effectively and efficiently control the position of the skinning blade assembly.
A further object of this invention is to provide a method and means of skinning meat products wherein the predetermined positions of the hold down roll and the skinning blade assembly are maintained even though both components are moveable during the skinning operation.
A further object of this invention is to provide a method and means of skinning meat products wherein the various functional and structural features of the skinning process are controlled by a computer.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a method and means of skinning meat products whereby the cleaning of the skinning machine can be easily accomplished.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a method and means of skinning meat products whereby the initial bite of the skinning blade into the meat product can be efficiently and effectively commenced.
A further object of this invention is to provide a meat skinning machine which can have the skinning blade assembly offset laterally to more efficiently skin meat products which have a variable thickness in a lateral direction.
A still further object of the invention is to have a meat skinning machine wherein the skinning blade assembly has a shoe with a compound arcuate surface having two arcuate portions with different radii.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a meat skinning machine with a hold down roll that applies vertical pressure to the center portion of the meat product being skinned, while directional pressure (downwardly and outwardly) is applied to the lateral portions of the product.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.